Heart's Day
by lothcat1138
Summary: Ezra and Sabine's changing relationship explored through one specific day every year. That day is essentially 'space-valentine's day'.
1. Annoying

**So this was written a while ago, a fair few months at least. I had intended to write all 6 planned chapters first and publish one every few days but life had a way of getting in the way of any sort of plans I had for the last few months. This has been burning a hole in my pocket for too long so I thought I'd publish now and get it out there. There's two more mostly-finished chapters to come that I'll have to touch up but they too will be out in a few days. As for the remaining 3 I haven't started, I can't commit to when if ever I'll get those done but I'm hoping I can knock them out over the first few weeks of the summer.**

 **This story will show the progression of their relationship by looking at one specific day in each year/season of the show; Heart's Day. Obviously, somewhat an equivalent of Valentine's day. I'll apologise now for the name, it's not very creative and it's lifted straight from _'The Elder Scrolls'_ franchise, but it was all I could work with when writing this. I had to really fight the urge to call it Space-Valentine's or Loth-Valentine's, so be grateful...**

 **The first chapter is set sometime after 'Idiot's Array' in Season 1, a few days perhaps. I'm going to take some liberties with deciding how long it takes for a year to pass each time, but I'll try to leave it ambiguous enough so that I don't have to commit to a specific date in the future. This first one is short and simple and focuses on the more abrasive relationship they have in Season 1, a period underpinned by Ezra's obvious crush and Sabine's weird approach of being cold one minute and surprisingly caring the next.**

* * *

The common area of the Ghost was rarely so quiet this time in the afternoon. Hera would usually be ordering Chopper around to do this or that or alternatively lecturing Kanan on something he hadn't done right. They bickered like an old married couple but Sabine still wasn't sure what was actually going on between them. _Something_ surely, but they kept it so private that even after all this time she didn't have a sure answer.

Sipping on her caf as she sat on the bench by the dejarik table, she admired the piece of art she recently sprawled on the wall on the far side of the room. Not her most extravagant work but she liked it. Her traditional 'starbird' design, spruced up with some extra flair and details, adorned a large part of the wall in the corner. The muted yellow tones at the base blended into a fiery orange at the top of the design. Graffiti was her own way of sticking it to the Empire, but she was hardly the first. She liked to think she channelled some of the more famous artists. Jaynor of Bith for example, as Lando had pointed out.

Lando had liked the piece too. To have someone actually educated on art look at her work was refreshing. No one on the crew knew a thing about it and trying to explain the intricacies of her latest work to Hera or Kanan seemed like trying to bang her creative head against a wall. Still, it didn't redeem Lando from being a slimy scoundrel. No amount of art knowledge or compliments excused his attempt to sell Hera to Azmorrigan.

She stifled a laugh into her cup. The truth was, she'd seen right through him almost instantly. He was just another swindler, out to get whatever he could from anyone. Sabine had humoured him and had, admittedly, relished sharing her art with him. However, in the end she was almost jealous Hera got to hit him where it didn't shine and not her.

Again, she wondered why Hera and Kanan had yet to make a noise let alone an appearance in the time she'd been sitting there. On cue, the door to the common area swung open.

Expecting the green-skinned Twi'lek to walk in, Sabine called out without looking away from her piece, "Hey, was wondering where you'd been."

"Really? You missed me, huh?", answered the cocky and distinctive voice that could only belong to Ezra Bridger.

Sabine looked over to see the kid standing happily in the doorway smiling at her. His orange clothes a size too big, roughed up and torn, and his hair in dire need of some attention. It wasn't difficult to tell he grew up on the street. Not to make fun of the fact, but Ezra had a way to go yet with making himself look... presentable.

"Oh, I thought it was Hera." She told him dismissively, expecting him to walk past and get on with whatever he was doing.

"Haha, no it's just me", he laughed nervously, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Sabine didn't answer him and turned back to think about her piece. _It could do with a little something perhaps, some more colour or another symbol around it somehow. Maybe some fire around it? Or put some stars in the background to symbolise taking the fight across the galaxy? Could I make the head a deeper orange, or make the base a lighter yellow to emphasise the contrast?_

Breaking from her artistic trance, she realised that the kid was still standing in the doorway watching her.

She shot an unreadable look at him, "Are you just going to stand there or do you have things to do?"

The boy shied away from looking right at her and set his eyes wandering around the room, "Well I... I.. Uh... I was going to come sit in here actually", he fumbled.

Company wasn't what she needed right now but it wasn't her ship to order him about on. Ezra's company in particular could be... draining, at times. His constant questions and jokes wouldn't give you a moment of peace. The worst part was without a doubt the atrocious attempts at 'flirting', if you could call it that, that he flung her way almost every time they were in a room together.

Praying, somewhat in vain, that he wasn't in that mood today she sighed. "Well sit then. There's plenty of space."

"Right.. right." The Lothalian boy hesitated before moving towards her, sitting on the other side of the dejarik table to her.

She didn't say a word to him as he sat and instead tried to refocus on her art. Whatever concentration she might have had was gone now though, sapped away by the sight of his shifting gaze at her from the other side of the table. _Ugh, it's one of those days._

"So... whatcha thinking about?", the boy asked.

In no mood for his games, she nodded over to the far wall. "What do you think?"

From the corner of her eye, she saw him turn to look at the starbird symbol. "Ohhhhh... right." Ezra stared for a bit before shifting back to her, "It's a really good painting, I like it."

Here we go. She sighed audibly again, "Yes, Ezra. You said before."

"But I really mean it, it's really good. It reminds me of...uh...", Ezra stammered and stuttered drawing Sabine's attention. She could tell he was trying to remember something. "Of uh... Jaden of Byss?"

 _Jaden of Byss? Oh my stars..._ Sabine almost felt bad for him, almost as bad as she felt for herself right now. Ezra was making an embarrassment of himself yet again and forcing her to endure the galaxy's worst attempts at smooth-talking since the old Republic. Clearly, he'd heard Lando's comments the other day and was trying to rehash them into his own.

"Ugh, it's Jaynor of Bith, and you just heard that from Lando", she snapped at him.

"Uh... maybe.. I might have... I mean I kinda did", Ezra answered in a panic.

If she could sigh any more than she already had, she would have then. Her mind immediately started to think of an easy way to excuse herself, enduring much more of his presence like this might be too much for one day.

"Let me give you some advice. Don't take any hints from Lando, on anything", she muttered.

Brushing his long hair from his face, Ezra nodded, "Y-yeah, okay. Point taken."

"Good", she huffed. "Any other insightful comments?", she asked sarcastically.

"I-uh, your hair looks nice. Did you do anything new to it?", he tried with an awkward grin.

 _Blast me_. Sabine brought her gloved hand to the bridge of her nose and pinched it, trying to calm herself down. "Ezra, it's the same it's been since I met you."

"Are you sure? I could swear it's different", he struggled out. His attempts really weren't going the way he'd seemingly planned.

"Yes Ezra I'm sure it's the same", the irritation in her voice palpable.

She could only put up with so much of him at a time, and he'd pushed her to breaking point in a record two minutes. Looking over to the door, she mentally mapped out how quickly she could sprint away. That idea quickly disappeared; she wasn't that cruel to just walk out on him like that. Still, she wasn't above inventing an excuse to leave if it saved her from this torture.

She shifted to the edge of the bench and looked over at him, "Listen, Ezra I've got some stuff to-"

Her sentence was cut-off by the familiar sound of an opening door. _Hera, at last_. Sabine found herself disappointed again when the lumbering purple figure of Zeb stepped into the room on his way to the kitchen area. The Lasat's green eyes looked the two over and noticed the look of frustration and annoyance plastered on the Mandalorian's face.

"Karabast, Sabine, life isn't that bad", he laughed to her.

 _Oh you don't even know, Zeb_. She rolled her eyes at him as he marched past the pair. The Lasat brought his purple fist to Ezra's shoulder in a brotherly contest, making Ezra launch his own swipe back. Sabine had been surprised at how quickly the two became friends, especially given how they'd acted when they first met. They fought and argued with each other sure, but as brothers not mortal enemies. Zeb had come to care for him, even like him, and Ezra was increasingly coming to like and respect his roommate.

But Sabine was in no mood to passively watch the friends mess around. "Zeb, have you seen Hera or Kanan? I haven't seen them all day."

Zeb straightened up to look at her, abandoning his sparring with Ezra, "Didn't you know? They've gone-... wait a minute."

The Lasat stopped mid-sentence and his head darted left to right, looking at both of his young crew mates. In a few seconds, Sabine saw a smile grow on his face and then he erupted in a roaring laugh. In his hysteria, he slapped Ezra hard on the back as he tried to let himself breath.

Sabine was completely lost, a feeling she couldn't stand, and could feel herself getting even more frustrated, "What now?! What have I missed?!", she demanded.

"Oh... I can't... I...", Zeb uttered between quieting fits of laughter. Eventually he got his composure and brushed a tear from his eye. "Good try, kid. I'll let you explain this one."

The Mandalorian shot daggers from her eyes at him, noticing the boy had flushed red in his cheeks. _Oh no, this'll be good_. The older warrior quickly paced out of the room, still letting slip a few chuckles as he hid away in the kitchen area.

Left alone with him once again, Sabine bore into him with her eyes as she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Care to explain?"

He laughed nervously and his hands started rubbing together to distract himself, "Well it's funny really... it's just Zeb being Zeb, you know?"

"Where's Hera and Kanan?", she pressured.

"They're... not here"

She folded her arms and leaned forward, "I figured that one out, laserbrain. Where are they?"

Ezra's hands moved to rub his neck as he answered, "Well, Kanan just said they were going out for some alone time. It is you know... Heart's Day after all."

 _Heart's Day?_ Sabine hadn't heard that word before, but whoever named it should have looked for a different job instead.

"Heart's Day? What even is that?", she spat. "Are you and Zeb trying to pull one on me, cause I swear I'll do much worse than take the bolts out of your bunk".

Ezra grimaced in discomfort as he watched her glare at him, "Heart's Day... it's a Lothal thing. Kanan heard about it a while ago so he and Hera wanted to go spend it together. It is... you know... for that kinda thing."

 _That kinda thing?_ It clicked with her after a moment. _Heart's Day? It's a love festival. Makes sense that Hera and Kanan would... no. Oh no. Oh no no, seriously?_ The chit dropped in her head in an instant and she shut her eyes to avoid looking at him. _Of course it's a love festival, and of course he tries smooth talking you during it..._

As she fought to contain equal parts frustration and embarrassment, Ezra chimed in again. "I just thought... 'Hey, why not spend it with you?'"

She'd figured that part out on her own easily enough. Part of her wanted to snap at him, to call him out for annoying her and make sure he never did the same again. Two things stopped her though.

One was Hera. She'd asked Hera not long after Ezra had come aboard about how to handle it, and how much punishment she'd get if she was too hard on him. Hera had, to her annoyance, told her not to do anything to hurt him. _'Ezra is a boy and you're a beautiful young woman, of course he likes you. It's just a phase, he'll get over it'_ , she'd said. Reluctantly, Sabine agreed not to shut him down completely no matter how much he annoyed her or else she'd risk Hera's anger. It didn't make it easier to endure the awful comments or the face-palmingly bad ways he'd try to smooth talk her, but it was something she just had to put up with.

It wasn't just for Hera's sake that she didn't want to hurt him. Kriff, it was for him too. As annoying as he could be and as much as she disliked enduring his infatuation, she didn't hate him. She didn't even dislike him. If she was honest, she liked him. As a friend obviously, and as a team member. The kid was brave, kind, mostly honest and he'd proved himself both useful and reliable on missions plenty of times. Early on he'd shown that under the thieving street-rat exterior he had a good heart and a sharp mind that let him fit in perfectly with their band of misfits. He hadn't been on the ship as long as the others but he'd already become an essential part of it. Ezra was part of their team, their crew, their family even. Every bit a Spectre as she was or Zeb, Chooper, Kanan or Hera were. Opening a rift between them by breaking his heart would impact the whole crew's ability to work together and, perhaps even worse, Sabine knew she'd just end up feeling bad for him for doing it.

None of those things meant she returned his feelings though. That sort of thing wasn't for her, and certainly not towards someone who seemed to be so much younger and child-like despite her only being two years older. Sabine realised she'd have to wiggle her way out of this gently, but also as quickly as she humanly could. At last she looked right at him sitting apprehensively across from her, worry etched on his face.

She sighed, "Look, kid. I like you, alright? You belong with us and I'm glad we have you".

Ezra perked up instantly, "You like me?"

 _Ugh, why do you have to make this difficult? I'm trying to be nice to you._

"You're my friend", she reinforced plainly, "Okay? You're my friend. Can we leave it at that for now please?"

For a second she feared she might have put him down too hard. Then he sighed and smiled genuinely at her whilst nodding, making his blue-black hair bob as he did. "Okay, Sabine. I understand, I'm your friend."

Relieved that Hera wouldn't need to have words with her, Sabine pulled herself off the bench and stood up. "Good, thanks kid."

It was progress, maybe. Letting him know she considered him a friend might make him stop struggling so hard to impress her all the time and maybe, she could pray, get him to stop trying so hard to flirt with her. Did she think he'd stop completely? Unfortunately, not quite yet. Still, at least she was starting to get better at handling it.

"Like I said, I've got stuff to do. I'll catch you later, Ezra", she said to him as she turned to walk away.

She heard his feet plant themselves on the floor behind her, but she didn't turn to look at him. "Hey, Zeb and I were going to do a prank on the love-birds when they get back. You in?"

Now that was an activity she could get behind. "Sounds good, let me know when you two are ready and I'll be there."

Sabine was almost at the door by the time she heard him call out behind her. "Good, good. We'll let you know when I want you... when we want you... for the prank I mean. S-See you later, Sabine", he called after her, a hint of his usual excitement and nervousness still in there.

"Yes, Ezra, I'll see you later", she replied monotonously as the door shut behind her.

Walking to her room, a simple reassurance played over in her head. It's just a phase. _It's just a phase. It's just a phase._

* * *

 **Like I said, short and not completely like my usual stuff. Hopefully it doesn't fall too far out of the realm of the show. This is by far the shortest chapter**

 **A big thank you goes to RagnarDanneskjold, my trusty proof-reader and ideas guy, I'm not sure what this garbage would look like without his careful eye checking it all over for me.**

Kind regards - Lothcat1138


	2. Growing

**This chapter is set some time in Season 2, but I'm not going to nail down a specific episode or time to avoid any major inconsistencies.**

 **Given this is set during Season 2, Sabine and Ezra have gotten closer and he's dialled back his more obvious signs of his crush on her, but it's still not all gone. Sabine's attitude to him can still be cold sometimes but there's a friendship there and it's still growing. Anyways, that's my mindset for this chapter.**

* * *

Painting her armour was always a private affair. Sitting in her cabin, alone, for hours on end carefully touching up the latest scratches or redesigning her whole aesthetic was her own personal escape from everything else in the galaxy. As she sprayed the applicator over each minute detail, she blocked out anything beyond the small paint-covered quarters she called her own. This time there was no major overhaul of her paint job, just going over parts chipped or damaged during the last mission. There wasn't too much this time, most of them were just from her slamming herself against cover too hard rather than from a glancing blow from a blaster bolt. It didn't matter to her, carefully applying the colour to each dent and scratch was cathartic.

She brought the applicator to a dent on her shoulder piece, a few inches away from chipping the central design on her right pauldron. She'd chosen a frynock for her shoulder this time, a reminder of that disastrous mission with Hera. As much as she hated the monsters, when looking back at it the mission had been fun and a good lesson in trust. Besides, it would be a cold day on Ryloth before Sabine didn't enjoy creating multiple explosions using Rhydonium canisters.

Pulling the trigger, a blast of purple shot out and smoothed over the chipped portion of the surrounding shoulder pad. Cutting off the stream at the right moment, Sabine was left with a perfectly blended patch where the chip had been. _Perfect._

Peeling her attention away from her success, she scanned her chestpiece for her next target. As she identified another scratch, a knock sounded on her door. Placing the applicator down, she stood up and walked over to the door control and opened it. In the corridor she saw Ezra standing there, smiling up at her with his goofy Loth-rat grin.

"Hey", he greeted as the door slid open.

"Hey...", she replied, leaning against the doorway, "Is something up?"

"No... no not really. I was just wondering what you were up to?"

 _Is now really the time, Ezra?_ Sabine looked at him standing awkwardly in the corridor, a cautious smile plastered on his face. She looked up and down the corridor to see who else was about. From the cockpit, she could hear Hera giving some orders to Chopper who wheeled past them with a grumble a few seconds later.

She sighed at him, "I'm painting my stuff right now, which means you leave me alone for a bit, okay?"

Ezra nervously ran his hands through his hair, "Oh... okay. D- Do you mind if I sit in with you for a bit?"

 _Karabast, Ezra. Did you hit your head or something?_ Everyone knew painting time was Sabine's time, even Hera did her best not to disturb her when she knew she was working. Sabine had become far less biting toward intruders over her time on the Ghost, she'd nearly shouted at Zeb for walking in on her mid-painting in the first few months, but now she'd just ask people nicely, if bluntly, to give her privacy. Ezra knew this full well, he was the recipient for most of her denials, but it didn't discourage him much.

"No, Ezra. Same as always, I paint alone", she told him impatiently, repeating the same sentence she'd used at least a dozen times before. "Can't you go bother Zeb? Or Kanan?"

"I sorta got kicked out of my room, Zeb's trying to sleep and no way am I sitting in there with his snoring", he laughed. "And Kanan's busy with something, so I can't go spend time with him."

Sabine laughed to herself, Zeb's snoring was absolutely a good reason not to stay in that room. Plus Kanan spent so much time meditating or attending to some task from Hera between missions that Sabine sometimes wondered when he ever had the time to teach Ezra all the powers and training he was so rapidly gaining. Still, a good excuse not to see the others didn't make a good excuse to distract her.

"Okay...", she started, "Why don't you go sit in the common area? Play a game of dejarik against the ship's AI?"

"Because the common area is off-limits to all of you for a bit", called the soft voice of the ship's Captain. Hera had moved out of the cockpit and was walking past, her hands on her hips and a smile on her face, before she stopped outside Sabine's room to talk to them.

"Off-limits?"

"Off-limits", Hera confirmed. "Just for a few hours."

Sabine looked at her in suspicion, "Why?"

Hera suppressed a laugh, "If you really need to know, it's the one day of the year where Kanan and I deserve a break from you lot."

It clicked instantly. _Heart's Day? Again... Really, Ezra?_ Sabine shot a glare at Ezra who seemed to shy away from her as if she was about to hit him.

"Ezra." she said menacingly. Her glare alone threatened to hurt him and wordlessly demanded he explain himself. She remembered all too well what happened on this same day last year.

"That's not the reason! I mean, it's not the only reason, I guess it's part of it but..." Ezra trailed off into a string of jumbled and hesitant justifications for coming specifically to see her on this day, yet again.

Silently, Sabine looked to Hera as if silently pleading with her to mediate everything. With a smile she remained quiet and neutral, watching the two members of her crew in their engagement.

"So yeah, do you mind if I hang out with you for a bit?", Ezra asked. Sabine saw him looking to Hera for approval, she knew she'd have to manage this gently in front of her.

"Ezra I've said, I don't like people watching me-"

"Sabine", Hera scowled motherly at her.

"Wh- Hera?! You know I don't like it?", she retorted with more than a bit of frustration.

Hera placed her hand on Sabine's shoulder, "Just this once, please?".

Looking at the Twi'lek's pleading eyes and her caring smile, Sabine couldn't bring herself to say no to her. Hera was a master at breaking past Sabine's hard exterior and getting her to do what she asked. It wasn't manipulative, it was just that Sabine couldn't bear to disappoint or annoy her with everything she did for her since joining the crew.

With a sigh, Sabine looked down at Ezra. "Fine, you can stay. But don't distract me or I _will_ lock you in with Zeb."

Ezra perked up with glee and grinned at Hera, who let her hand drop from Sabine's shoulder.

"Good, I'm glad we got that straightened out. Don't annoy her, Ezra", Hera told him pointedly with a smile.

"I won't, I'll be alright"

With that, Hera turned around and headed to the common area. "Remember, off-limits!", she told them as she disappeared through the door.

Still leaning against the door, Sabine looked Ezra up and down as he stood happily looking up at her.

"You can come in but I swear if you start trying to smooth talk me or annoy me when I'm working", she didn't need to finish the threat for him to get her message.

Ezra nodded to her in response. With a sigh, she pushed off the doorframe and walked back into her room towards her armour.

Seeing he was still standing cluelessly in the doorway, she huffed. "Come in then, and close the door."

"Right... sorry", Ezra answered quickly and stepped inside with the door sliding closed behind him.

Sabine watched him as his head looked up at the designs covering the walls and ceiling of her room. They were a daily sight for her, but rarely did any other of the crew set foot in her private haunt. The boy looked in wonder at the symbols, icons and patterns that adorned every wall and space in her room. Stormtrooper helmets, starbirds, various creatures and animals, items, weapons, abstract images, even stylised impressions of famous figures and people from recent galactic history. Sabine was a little bit humbled to see him so taken aback by everything, but the boy standing in awe in the middle of her quarters was a bit of a distraction to her nonetheless.

"Ezra?", she called, causing him to jump out of his skin. "If you're done staring, you can sit over there", her fingers pointed towards her bunk.

"Y-your bed?", Ezra stammered.

 _Oh please, not this again_. She should have been wary of this. "Get your head out the gutter Ezra. Sit", she commanded.

Without a response, Ezra meekly made his way to her bunk and sat on the edge of it, his legs hanging a few inches off the floor still. Sabine watched him sit and then start to look at all the art in her room again.

Shaking her head, she finally turned back to her chestplate and reached for her applicator. Shifting in her chair, she placed her body just about in the way of his view of her armour. She had no worries about showing people her completed work, she'd plaster it in public spaces proudly to mark their sites, but there was something about her creative process that she didn't really like sharing. Graffiti and street art was a different story to be sure, her armour though was much more personal. It was her's and her's alone, not for everyone else to see unless she was sure it looked exactly the way she wanted. Yet now there was someone else sitting a few feet behind her probably watching her every move. Then again, it wasn't just someone. It was Ezra, her friend, her crewmate and, sometimes, the bane of her existence. Of all the people to get to see her doing this though, at least he wasn't the worst option.

Sighing, she refocused on her armour. _Where was I?_ Her fingers traced across the hard plate, guiding her inspecting eyes over every inch of it. Quickly, she identified the site she was going to work on earlier and set the right colour in the applicator. Another blast from it and the impurity was removed, leaving another section of her armour looking as good as new.

"Hey Sabine?", a voice interrupted.

"You said you weren't going to annoy me Ezra", she huffed at him, gritting her teeth.

"I know, I know... I was just going to say I liked the stuff in your room. The pictures, they're cool."

Sabine rolled her eyes with her back to him and sighed, "Thank you, Ezra. Can I get back to this now?"

"Yeah, I... sorry."

 _Sorry?_ Sabine looked at the applicator in her hands and the armour it was there for. _You don't need to say sorry for, ugh..._ Here she was, painting and working to express herself, yet she'd bite at anyone who so much as complimented her for her work. He wasn't trying to be annoying, he was trying to be nice to her. What about that could she be mad at him for?

Sabine dropped her hand down against the table, keeping the applicator clutched in it. "What do you like about it?", her eyes staying on the half-finished armour.

"It's more you, I guess", Ezra replied almost instantly. He wasn't reaching for a compliment, he wasn't fumbling for an answer for ages, he just said what he thought of it.

It was a surprise to be sure but a welcome one for him to give her an actual answer this time. Dropping the applicator down and turning back to look at him, she decided she'd probe just how much he'd actually thought about this.

"More me? What do you mean?"

Her friend leaned forward off the bunk to look around some more, his lips moving slightly as if he was thinking of what he wanted to answer. "I don't know, it's just, when you make all your other art on the streets or on mission, it's always got a purpose. It's always to say 'kriff the Empire' or to give people hope. It's always for, you know, for a reason."

Her eyes narrowed on him, but not angrily, "You're not trying to say my art doesn't have meaning, are you? Because that's more insulting than complimentary"

"Wait... no no. That's not what I' m saying! I just mean, like, it's not just for some big message or cause. It's for you. You paint it because you like it and you enjoy it. I'm not saying you don't enjoy your other stuff, just that this stuff you do for yourself, you know? Things you find funny or cool or you just want to play around with. It's personal, it's you". As he finished his sentence, he looked at her with a heartfelt smile.

She almost let her mouth hang open in disbelief. "Ezra Bridger, did you just make an actual observation on my art?"

He looked down to the ground and scratched the back of his neck habitually, "Yeah... I guess I did."

That had made her smile. Sabine had to process that for a second. He'd actually impressed her with a genuine compliment about her work, one that actually made her proud and even a little bit embarrassed.

Sabine laughed shyly, not sure exactly how to answer him, "Thanks, Ezra. I... appreciate that."

"Any time, Sabine", he said before leaning back and relaxing.

She looked at him for a bit longer, almost suspicious that the boy who sat in her room wasn't the same Ezra Bridger she'd spent the last year and a bit with. _Nope, same old clothes, same bad haircut, same big nose, same scars, same voice, same eyes, same everything nearly..._ nearly, not quite. He seemed older, not so much looked it but acted like it. There was more maturity and less childishness. Jedi training and a year of rebel activity had forced him to grow up fast and move beyond the boy that had joined them on Lothal. She and Zeb had even stopped calling him 'kid' all the time. They never agreed to do it, just one day she observed that they'd both fallen out of the habit of belittling him that way. Not to say he was all the way there yet. At this point, he looked younger than he acted, still like a twelve or thirteen-year-old more than a sixteen-year-old. He was the same age now as she was when he'd joined, yet she still felt so much his elder.

The Mandalorian laughed internally, _Heart's Day, huh? Not even a bad flirt this time, that's progress._ Ezra was almost out of that phase really, not completely but almost. She was able to sit in a room with him and escape without even one comment on most days. Her panic earlier about his true intentions for seeing her might have been rooted in experience, but things had worked out for the best. Maybe he was finally starting to embrace being her friend after all.

If he was changing and growing, maybe it was time for her to start treating him differently too.

"Hey Ezra, you said you wanted to watch me paint, right?", she asked.

His body pulled up and he looked at her in confusion, "Isn't that what I'm doing?"

"I don't know what you can see from over there, idiot", she laughed at him.

"I thought you didn't like people watching you paint?"

Sabine shrugged, "Maybe it's time for me to grow up too. Now get over here, I want to get this done."

What should have taken her half an hour took her closer to two. Ezra was inquisitive and always asking, but Sabine was starting to enjoy just talking about it with him. She could ramble for minutes at a time about colour and patterns and what shade went with what, and he'd just listen to her intently. He still had that little look in his eyes sometimes, that little hint of admiration that had made it so awkward to be around him before. Yet he held his tongue, holding back any chance of ruining their time and choosing to let her talk his ear off. Despite his earlier comments on her art, Sabine knew he still knew next to nothing and she was sure half the things she told him went straight over his head.

Then, when the armour was done, she talked him through some of the images on her walls. Sabine told him tales of why she chose that particular helmet or that certain creature. She filled his mind with tales of the bounty hunters Cad Bane and Embo, two criminals that in her ignorant youth she'd wanted to emulate and follow in the footsteps of. Pointing to the picture of the crew above her bunk, she talked about why she chose each colour and artistic choice for them, even explaining why she wanted to experiment with certain shapes and shades on the various abstract symbols on her walls.

When Hera knocked on the door later on to let them know they were released from their confinement, Sabine realised she hadn't been eagerly waiting for her privacy like usual. When he wasn't being immature or trying to charm her, she could enjoy her time with him so much more. It must have been years since she'd just sat and talked with someone like this for so long and maybe, just maybe, she'd want to do it with him again some time. As Ezra left to head off to to bed that night, she wasn't relieved to see him go like she would have been a year ago.

Leaving her alone in her room, she sat back and smiled to herself. This was a friendship she could get used to and one that, she hoped, was only just beginning.

* * *

 **That's it for this one. They'll start getting a bit longer next chapter and the chapters after that, so if these are too short rest assured that problem should go away soon.**

 **Again, RagnarDanneskjold still goes above and beyond to proofread every bit of garbage I chuck at him and I really appreciate all the support and help he gives every time.**

Kind Regards - Lothcat1138


	3. Enjoying

**Here we are again, this time during Season 3. I won't give any exact time other than it's not too long before 'Trials Of The Darksaber' so it's in the second half of Season 3. This one is longer than the previous two and the remaining chapters should all be longer in length like this one.**

 **This time around is Ezra and Sabine being good friends and I tried to make it resemble something a bit more like an actual teenage friendship. I've always felt Season 3 is the transition from Sabine seeing Ezra as a friend to starting to fall for him. She's not in love with him (yet) but she's starting to take the steps towards it. Ezra gets a bit braver this chapter but it's more a case of joking and prodding his friend than him making genuine moves on her.**

 **There are a few jokes and innuendos here and there but it's nothing explicit and certainly nothing to warrant any rating change. It's just something that fits naturally into teenage friendships and makes it feel more real than the squeaky clean PG stuff the show usually gives. It won't be a habit, that stuff doesn't really fit the tone of the remaining chapters, but since this is more lighthearted and fun I threw some in anyway.**

* * *

"Don't make me repeat myself, I'll call you when you can come back", commanded the Twilek from the top of the Ghost's ramp.

The Mandalorian stood her ground with her arms folded, "Hera come on, we've stayed in our quarters the last time. Does it really matter?"

Hera scowled at her standing at the bottom of the Ghost's entry ramp. Ezra stood a few feet behind her, watching the two women from a safe distance. He too was being kicked off the ship for a while, all so Hera and Kanan could have their privacy for a couple of hours.

Folding her own arms in response, Hera wouldn't budge. "Don't you think we deserve a break from you sometimes?", the Twilek replied with a smirk.

"You get a break when we're in our rooms, which is where we could be now", Sabine answered.

Hera laughed, "Maybe when you're older you'll understand. Sometimes people just want some peace knowing there's no one else around"

 _No one except Kanan..._ Sabine knew exactly why they wanted privacy. Heart's Day landed on the same day every year and no doubt Hera and Kanan wanted a little alone time together on it.

"I know it's your special day but we can be quiet, we've never bothered you before have we? If anyone will be making the noise it's you two".

The Twileik's mouth opened in surprise but the corners of her lips curled into a smile, "Okay now, I think someone is asking for extra cleaning duty"

"I won't make another one if you let us stay", Sabine stepped carefully backwards as Hera stepped further forward.

"Oh you won't make another one unless you want me to assign you refresher duty for the next month." Hera walked over to the ramp control and hovered her hand over it.

Sabine backed off down the ramp, accepting that there probably wasn't a way to change her mind this time. "At least tell us how long you'll be?"

Hera waited until both of the crew members were firmly off the ship before replying. "Long enough for you two to have your own lovely Heart's Day together", she told them with a wink before gently pushing the button and sealing them out of her vessel.

Looking at where Hera had just been, Sabine was still standing with her arms folded and mouth agape, she knew when she'd lost the battle. Hera wasn't much of a joker most of the time but she'd proved more than capable of putting someone in their place with a quip or a joke. This one, she had to admit, was another one of those times. Sabine looked over to Ezra who stood under the ship like her, clearly surprised as well at their Captain's parting comment.

"You know it's probably a good thing we're not on board for this...", Sabine joked.

Ezra stifled a laugh at her, "Yeah, I don't need that mental image."

The Mandalorian laughed and shook her head, "You're awful, thanks for telling me that."

"What? You said it?", Ezra shot back.

"Hey I made a joke, you made it weird"

The Jedi grinned at her, "Come on it was already weird"

Sabine rolled her eyes with a chuckle, "Whatever you say"

She sighed and turned away from the Ghost, looking around the base to find some idea of what to do for the next few hours. It was late afternoon and the it'd likely be pushing on sunset by the time they could come back. It was one of the rare days off the two had and Sabine didn't fancy spending time moving crates or cleaning weapons. She ran through her options in her mind. Zeb and Rex were probably helping with the training of some of the recruits, she could always lend them a hand. _No... I honestly can't be bothered to deal with that today, I deserve a day off._ All of her art supplies were trapped in the ship still, ruling out any artistic activities. Then her hand landed down on her left hip, on the Westar blaster that sat in its holster. _There's an art form that doesn't require paint._ Target practice was always a good choice. Easy, relaxing, a good way to blow off steam and a chance for some time to herself.

"What do we do then?", came an interrupting voice from behind her.

Sabine looked back at him, "I was going to go fire a few off for a while. I don't want to do much else."

Ezra nodded to her with a smile, "Oh, right, that's a good idea. I'll probably go meditate or something I guess."

Usually, Sabine wouldn't have thought anything of it, Ezra wasn't always one for company. He never was as much of a loner as her but he'd still spend plenty of his time keeping to himself. This time though, something told her today wasn't another one of those days for either of them.

"You want to come with? Get some peace and quiet for your meditation of whatever it is you Jedi do", Sabine suggested. "As long as a few blaster shots won't distract you"

He must have been surprised that she offered. "Oh... uh, are you sure? I don't want to intrude or anything."

"Ezra, you're my friend, I don't mind you being there", Sabine pointed to the DL-44 strapped to his hip, "Besides, maybe I can teach you to actually shoot straight"

"Hey! I can shoot straight!", Ezra retorted.

Sabine shook her head teasingly, "Have you ever even trained with that thing?"

Ezra folded his arms, "I tend to focus on the training that can let me pick things up with my mind or use an ancient weapon only a handful of people know how to use. Blasters are too boring for me", he boasted jokingly.

"Believe me, I can tell you don't focus on blaster training", she taunted.

The Jedi patted his lightsaber, "I'd like to see you trying to wield one of these"

"Hoth will melt before I pick up a lightsaber, Ezra"

"Because you know I'm better", he teased.

"Ugh, you wish". Of course he'd be better, she'd seen his skills for herself and they were impressive. She'd never let him know that though. "So you in? Are you going to let me teach you how to hit something?"

"I already know how but yeah I'll come with. I gotta prove you wrong now."

With that, their choice was made. They headed to Chopper Base's requisitions officer and signed the manifest for two speeders. Normally it was difficult for anyone to secure them for recreational time but the crew of Captain Hera Syndulla's ship had a special privilege. Sabine grabbed one of the many spare emitters that helped keep the spiders at bay. Ezra had protested, insisting he could keep them calm enough so they wouldn't attack but she wasn't taking chances, not after what she'd seen them be capable of. She led the way out of the base's perimeter into Atollon's wilderness towards the familiar spot she'd found a few months ago. It wasn't a place she used all too often but she already knew the way like the back of her hand.

The journey was short, the small clearing she liked to practice in was only ten minutes or so on speeder bike. It was far enough to have privacy and be away from distracting noises or prying eyes whilst close enough so she could be back in a flash if something came up. Sabine steered the bike into a break in the hills that gave way to a small open clearing nestled into the landscape. She'd left four old targets here on one of her visits and they were still standing where she'd left them several weeks ago.

Stepping off his speeder, Ezra inspected the small corner of Atollon Sabine had claimed for herself. "So this is where you've been disappearing to then?"

"What do you think?", Sabine motioned her hands around her private retreat.

"It's nice. How'd you find this place?"

Sabine shrugged, "Just went exploring, seemed quiet enough. The base's practice range is too busy all the time."

"I think someone is shy", the Jedi smirked to her whilst walking away from his speeder.

Her hands fell to her hips and she glared at him, "Shy? Of all the words to call me, you think 'shy'?"

Ezra raised his hands up in surrender, "Relax, I'm kidding."

With a laugh she playfully punched his arm as she turned towards the targets on the far side of the clearing. "Keep it up and I'll use you as target practice", she warned with a pointed finger.

The Mandalorian looked carefully at the targets in the distance and back down at the ground in front of her. _20 metres? Child's play_. Satisfied she'd got the distance about right, she smiled happily to herself. Her boots drew a horizontal line in the dust barely half a metre in front of her.

"Want me to go first or do you want to embarrass yourself?", Sabine jabbed.

Her friend took a step back from her and waved exaggeratedly at the line that marked the firing position, "Oh, after you m'lady."

With a grumble and a signature eyeroll Sabine planted her fleet firmly shoulder-width apart. Staring down the leftmost target, she kept her eyes locked on it as her right hand reached down, unholstered her blaster and raised it to aim in one fluid, meticulously practised motion. Taking aim and steadying herself even more she squeezed the trigger sending bursts of blaster bolts onto the target. Her first three shot volley was a bit left of centre, her second lot a bit right and her third rattled hard on the dead middle of the target.

Her arm dropped down and her blaster slid into its regular place. With a smug smile she looked over at her friend, "Come on then, Bridger. Give it your best shot."

Sabine stepped back and copied his earlier exaggerations as she motioned towards the line. Ezra suavely walked over and placed his feet behind line, squaring himself up to the second left-most target. He straightened his posture and closed one eye while pulling his pistol from his hip. Holding one arm out, he lined up his blaster and red bolts began flying at irregular intervals in the general direction of the target. His smug demeanour faded with each shot taken. The first hit the wall behind the target, as did the next three. Another hit just below and a few managed to connect with the outskirts of the board. Ezra's best shots were a far cry from Sabine's worst.

Before he'd even finished his set Sabine was almost in tears, struggling to catch her breath between her laughter. The confident and cocky Jedi had been reduced to an awkward and embarrassed young man.

"Bad day I guess?" Ezra shrugged while his hands played nervously with the back of his neck.

Sabine looked him up and down as her laughing slowly quieted, "I didn't realise... wow. I didn't think you'd be that bad."

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up. These targets are small, as long as I can hit a target the size of a Stormtrooper I'll be fine"

"You may as well be a Stormtrooper with that aim", Sabine laughed with a nod over at the barely scratched target.

Despite his embarrassment, Ezra couldn't help but smile. Sure he could be cocky but he didn't mind being the butt of a few jokes sometimes. It was one of the traits he'd gained since joining the crew and something she'd seen more and more of in the last year. As Ezra shed his young, arrogant and immature personality he and Sabine had become much better friends. That didn't stop them ribbing on each other constantly though, it was a huge part of the friendship they'd built.

She watched her friend's flushed cheeks and awkward stance with a sigh, "Come on, I'll teach you how not to do... that", punctuating the end of her sentence by pointing at the mess he'd made.

Sabine stood on the line facing the target and turned to him as he took his place next to her. She folded her arms and watched as he raised his blaster and pointed it down range. _Has he ever shot a blaster before? His posture is all wrong, his feet aren't braced, his grip is too loose, his arm is swaying as if he's too weak to hold it._ She shook her head with a sigh.

Ezra watched her unamused expression, "Uh, what am I doing wrong?"

"It'd be better to ask what you're doing right... which is pretty much nothing", she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Your stance, your grip, your aiming, it's all just wrong."

Letting his arm drop he looked at her in confusion, "How is it wrong?"

 _Where do I even start?_ She huffed and stepped closer to him, "I'll just show you."

Sabine quickly noted as many of things that were wrong as she could and marked them in her head. _Arms, back, hand, feet, shoulders... everything really._ With a sigh she reached out with her hands and pushed his back in, making him take a more upright stance.

"Well, that's the first thing...", her hands quickly moved to his shoulders and pushed them down, "And relax these..."

It was then she realised he'd gone completely silent and had tensed up even more than he had before. Sabine then looked at her hands, clasping tightly to his arms as she drew herself close to him to move his body. _Oh... of course... right._ Ezra has lost a lot of what made their interactions difficult in the first few years but this particular thing was something Sabine still knew was there. Hidden, usually, but there. She'd see it sometimes every now and again, on Concord Dawn for example, but it was far less obvious than it used to be. They may have become really good friends, best friends even, yet Ezra still liked her in that certain way. _It's Heart's Day, you're up close, touching him all over and probably sending his mind into a tailspin._

 _Sometimes I swear he hasn't grown up at all,_ she chucked to herself. That wasn't true obviously, he'd grown a lot. He was as tall as her now rather than barely reaching her shoulders. His new haircut helped him look older and his raggedy clothes had been switched out for a new, more fitting set. Ezra had filled out too, his shoulders were broader and wider and his arms bulkier and toned. The tighter fit of his clothes accentuated his developments enough for Sabine to have started to take notice of them.

"Sa-Sabine?", Ezra interrupted. "You stopped?"

 _Stopped?_ She'd stopped. She was just standing there, staring at him and holding on. Karabast.

"R-right, sorry. Just...", she fumbled and quickly let go of him. "Just... copy me."

 _What was that?_ Sabine scolded herself for acting so... weird. _Can't you just be normal about this? It's just Ezra... it's just Ezra._ She stepped to the side of him and glanced at his face, seeing the familiar tinge of a blush on his cheeks. _Great, just when I thought we'd have a Heart's Day without the awkwardness._ When those feelings of his made a rare appearance, she never knew how to react. It was rarely obvious enough to warrant an open acknowledgement nor subtle enough for her not to notice at all, it was a weird middle ground. Enough for her to see it and, she didn't doubt, for Ezra to notice she had too.

They never spoke about it, not properly anyway. She'd joke about how he used to be around her for sure and even tease him about still liking her but they'd never brought it up with any hint of seriousness. Sometimes she thought it was a thing of the past but it was moments like these that reminded her he still had those feelings tucked away somewhere.

"Ahem?"

Sabine jumped again at the sudden noise. _Kriff, you were out of it again_. "Uh, right, sorry. Distracted I guess", she regretted her choice of words there but let them slide anyway, "Just watch what I do."

She resolved to focus on the task at hand and not worry about Ezra's awkward phases. Her feet found their place on the ground as she aligned her body with the target. After a few seconds, Ezra did the same.

"There, you get better stability. You brace yourself against the shot and you don't move as much as when you're just facing head-on", she instructed him.

Ezra shifted his weight around with a nod, "Okay... okay I get that. What else?"

Looking at him she saw a distinct slouch in his back that'd he immediately regained after she'd let go of him and his shoulders were tensed up again too.

"Stand up straighter, like I showed you. And loosen those shoulders, no one'll hurt you... so relax."

He looked quizzically at her, "I thought you're teaching me how to shoot even when people are trying to kill me?"

Sabine sighed angrily at him, "Just do what I'm telling you."

"Right, sorry", the Jedi apologised and let his shoulder muscles loosen.

"Good", she told him, "Now draw your blaster the way you did before."

He drew the DL-44 from his hip and held it out in front of him, pointing in the general direction of the target. _Yep, loose grip and he's not even holding his arm out right._

Sabine turned more towards him, "First of all, grip it tighter. A DL-44 is more powerful than your average blaster pistol, the recoil from that thing will be much worse. That's why your shots get worse as you go on, you're letting it move too much."

"You mean like this?", Ezra asked as he clenched it tighter in his hand.

"Ugh, no. You're holding it too tightly" Ezra let his hand slacken and loosen around the grip. "Now too lightly", she was about to go over and move his hand herself before he seemed to get just the right pressure as far as she could tell. "Good, you can be taught", she laughed.

"Ha ha, very funny", Ezra muttered.

The Mandalorian girl smirked at him, "I don't think someone likes being told what to do"

"I think you're enjoying being in-charge way too much" His voice full of that joking attitude he used against her so often.

"Do you want me to teach you or not?"

Begrudgingly the Jedi nodded and focused back on his lesson. Ezra resumed his previous position, remembering the grip, posture and stance Sabine had been ordering him to adopt. Sabine analysed every inch of his stance; back, arms, legs, butt, shoulders. All to check he'd been listening of course... The more she looked at him, the more she surprised herself. _He's really grown up, hasn't he?_

Not wanting him to get the wrong idea from her staring, she cleared her throat loudly. "You look good, give it a try and see if you can actually hit something this time."

His head turned to her and she saw a wry smile form on his lips, "Look good, do I?"

"Ugh, you know that's not what I meant", she replied with a laugh.

Ezra shook his head slightly and turned back down range, "Yeah, right...", he teased under his breath.

 _That's how you want to play, is it?_ Sabine rose to his jabs, "Really? You're going to try telling me I'm the one who has a thing for the other?"

Once again the Jedi lost his focus and turned back to her, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

 _You know exactly what I mean._ With a giggle she put on her best attempt at an impersonation of his younger self. " _My name's Ezra, what's yours?_ ", she said in a wholly mocking tone.

His cheeks flushed red instantly and he meekly looked away, "Okay, no... stop it!", he begged with a pained expression.

His reaction only encouraged her. _Oh I'm having fun with this, serves you right._ " _Hey, if you ever need some inspiration_ ", she fluttered her eyelids exaggeratedly at him. " _Wait, you know what I smell like?_ ", she continued in her teasing impersonation of him.

"I get your point, can you stop now?", Ezra replied as he awkwardly kept his gaze locked on the ground in front of him. "It wasn't my fault"

Sabine sighed out her laughter and folded her arms at him, "What do you mean it wasn't your fault? You kept 'flirting' with me all the time" She accentuated the verb with air-quotes to show how loose that description of his actions was.

Ezra glanced at her from the corner of his eye but didn't quite look at her, "You're a beautiful girl and I'm still a teenage guy, what am I meant to be like?"

 _...Beautiful?_ The Mandalorian was taken by surprise at his sudden change of tone. _Did he just call me beautiful?_ She continued to stare at him in front of her, he was still facing away from her and probably letting his compliment sink in. It wasn't even the word that had caught her so off-guard. You're. Still. Present tense. He had flirted with her before plenty of times but it'd been so long since he'd been this forward about it and she couldn't ever recall him being so... genuine about it. Even more, she'd never been this taken aback by it. Maybe it was how close they'd become, maybe it was how much she'd grown to trust him, maybe it was the cheesy spirit of this stupid holiday getting under her skin. For the first time, Ezra's flirting wasn't a joke or just plain awful, it was real. It was an honest to goodness compliment. And it made her... _smile._

"Hey Sabine?", Sabine broke from her trance. _Oh kriff, not again_. Ezra gave her a barely-contained smug grin, "You were staring again."

She'd have kicked herself if he wasn't looking back at her now. "What do you mean 'again'?"

Whatever sense of embarrassment he'd had a few seconds earlier has completely dissolved and given way to his familiar but not fully serious cockiness, "Earlier, when you were sorting my stance. I saw you", he winked at her and started laughing.

"I wasn't! I was trying to make sure you weren't getting all flustered and nervous!", her arms folded and she stared at him defensively, friendly irritation creeping into her voice.

The Jedi shrugged, clearly thinking he'd won out, "Alright, if that's what you tell yourself"

Her eyes rolled hard and she scoffed at him. "It wasn't for the reason you were thinking"

"So you admit you were staring?"

Sabine just shook her head, "That target isn't going to shoot itself"

On her command he'd turned back and brought his arm up again to fire downrange. Sabine watched his every move with the echoes of a smile still on her lips. This was fun, joking and prodding each other as they always did. They were doing it more and more these days, spending more time together than they used to and enjoying it too. In the last few months Ezra had moved from being a good friend to her absolute closest, even overtaking her recently rebuilt relationship with Ketsu. With him she could just relax and spend hours teasing, rambling and opening up to each other. It was a far better friendship with him than she could have hoped for back when they first met, a friendship she hoped was here to stay.

As Sabine mused on him, Ezra had started shooting at the target. This time Sabine's instructions had helped immensely and he was at least managing to hit the things albeit sporadically. When he'd finished his set, it was still stark contrast to Sabine's, but miles better than his first attempt.

"You're getting better but that's not saying much"

"I'm not as bad as you think I am", he said, folding his arms and facing her.

Sabine cocked her eyebrow, "Really? Prove it"

Ezra nodded, "How about a competition?"

"Okay, you're on", her competitive nature taking over her actions. "What do you have in mind?"

"I'm not stupid enough to try and beat you in accuracy, how about speed? Whoever hits all four targets first wins."

An idea formed in her head as she thought of the match-up. "Alright, what do I get when I win?"

"You mean if you win", Ezra looked up and thought for a second, "If you win, I'll take carbon scrubbing duty for you next time you get it."

"And if a miracle happens and you win?" Sabine took her place by his side and stared him down.

"I don't know, what's a scrubbing session worth? A hug? A romantic Heart's Day kiss?", Ezra's sarcastic grin taunted her.

Sabine's face hardened and her arm reached out to deliver a swift hit to his stomach. "Just because it's Heart's Day, doesn't mean I'm desperate."

A kiss? Who does he think he is? Sabine watched her friend giggle while hunched over from the swift blow she'd given him. At least he's upfront about it now. Sabine laughed at herself, a year ago she'd have probably felt this was a worse development. There was something about it though that she didn't mind any more. Not the affection, she had absolutely no intention of kissing him, but it was all for fun. _Why can't you have fun with this? He's your friend, it doesn't mean anything._

With a sputter and a groan Ezra stood up fully. "Kriff I was joking. You can at least give me a compliment if I win though."

"It doesn't matter what you'd get if you won, you're gonna lose."

"You're boasting now, you'll be surprised how quick I can be" The Jedi hovered his hand over his blaster ready to start.

Sabine chuckled quietly to him, "I'm sure you are quick, but that's not always a good thing."

From the corner of her eye she saw the puzzled look on his face, "What? I don't get it."

"Of course you don't", she said with a wink at him.

Her brief time with Ketsu is countless sleazy underworld locations had taught her a lot about life that she wouldn't have otherwise known. She'd found she was able to sneak some references at him at various times and he'd never catch them. Ezra's upbringing was surprisingly clean so pretty much all of them flew right over his head much like this one.

"Right", the bemused Jedi answered, "On my go we draw and first one to hit all four wins"

"I hope you like scrubbing, Ezra"

It was quiet for a few seconds but Sabine had already formed her plan. Ezra, in his haste, had overlooked one crucial rule that sealed her victory. _He never said how many blasters I could use._

"3...2...1...GO!", Ezra shouted as his hand grabbed his pistol, firing from the left most target to the right.

As quick as he was, Sabine was faster. Both of her hands simultaneously drew her Westars and went from the outer target to the inner. Sabine had plugged all four with a blaster bolt before Ezra had even reached the second target. Ezra had hit the second target before realising he'd been beaten. He looked to Sabine with his mouth agape and the faintest hints of a smile on his lips.

"Okay, that was cheating!"

Sabine holstered her blasters and smiled innocently, "There weren't any rules against it. Guess you're just slow and inaccurate."

"I thought being quick was bad?"

"Not so much for a girl...", Sabine watched and laughed as the boy struggled to figure out what she was talking about.

"Yeah well you still cheated, I win by default" The Jedi folded his arms and locked his gaze with her.

With a sigh she relented, "It's a tie, it's your fault for not laying down rules" The Mandalorian looked back out at the targets and then at her friend. "I'll give you a rematch for your caf ration tomorrow?"

Ezra smiled and took up his pose once more, "One blaster", he warned her.

She dropped one of her Westars off to her side. "You're going to regret this."

Sabine was true to her word, winning out in the next set of shots. That competition gave way to a second over the next day's ration. Before long, Ezra had lost a half dozen different things from the next few days to her. As time wore on their wagers moved back to chores, jobs and favours for the other. Responsibility for the next inventory, taking the fall for the next lost datapad, the next helper for Chopper's oil bath. Sabine even started taking pity on him, throwing a match or two to give him just enough hope to keep trying.

It was pushing on sunset by the time they'd had enough of their little competition. They'd bet so much to each other that she doubted they'd even remember half of it. The truth was that she wasn't in it for the prize, she was there for the fun. Hanging out with him was an escape from everything they did on the daily. They could relax, play games, tease, joke and tell stories like normal people did. Granted, 'normal' wasn't a term she'd used to describe them, but they got to kick back and just be friends for a while rather than just 'allies' or 'teammates'. Time had a habit of melting away with him. In the last few months she'd often find herself surprised how quickly time flew when he was around. It reminded her a bit of her time with Ketsu or her other friends at the Academy. It'd been so long since she'd been able to have fun like this and it made her friendship with him all the more special.

With the last set over Sabine somewhat reluctantly picked up her discarded blaster from the ground. "I think it might be time to call this off now. We've been at it for hours"

Ezra sighed but seemed to agree, putting away his own weapon and moving to sit down on one of the rocks beside him. "You know you wouldn't have stood a chance if this was a lightsaber contest."

"I know", Sabine replied as she sat down on the ground opposite him, "But it wasn't and you lost."

The Jedi relaxed and slung his hands behind his head to stretch out, "This was fun, we should do it again when we get a chance."

Sabine paused and smiled up at him, "I'd like that. It's fun getting away from it all sometimes."

"You said it, there's only so much serious stuff I can handle before I need to take a break."

She leaned back on her hands a let out a breath, sending whatever stress she had left with it, "You know where I am if you ever want to take your mind off things."

Ezra looked back down at her with a raised eyebrow, "Really? What kind of offer is that?"

Sabine shot daggers at the boy but couldn't stop herself from smiling, "I hate you sometimes."

"No you don't", he winked.

As Ezra leaned back to look up at the sky, Sabine watched him for a bit. To think she'd let him get away with that now when a year ago she'd toss him out the airlock for so much as a compliment was strange to think about it. It just went to show how comfortable they'd become with each other.

The pinging of her communicator suddenly cut off whatever she was thinking about. "Sabine? You there?", it was Hera's voice.

"Hera, what's up?", she answered.

"Just want to let you know you can come back, I'm sorry we kept you out there so long."

Sabine glanced over at Ezra and saw in his eyes what she was thinking too. Just a bit longer.

She cleared her throat and began to speak, "Ahem, uh, okay. We'll be there later."

The comm was silent for a few seconds, "… I thought after earlier you'd be eager to come back?", Hera asked.

Sabine shrugged even if she knew she couldn't be seen, "I know, we're just doing some stuff"

"Right..." Hera's spoke with a knowing tone, "Well, don't be out too late."

"We won't, Hera."

Sabine dropped the comm from her mouth and waited for a response. When none came she clipped it back to her waist. Leaning back into a comfortable position, she saw Ezra smiling to himself on the rock.

"What's got you so happy?" Sabine inquired.

Ezra laughed, "It's nothing", he shook his head. "I just wanted to say thanks."

She perked up to look at her friend, "Thanks? For what?"

"For today, I mean", her friend looked at her with a warm smile, "The last few times I tried spending, you know, today with you, you weren't happy about it."

She stifled a laugh, "Yeah, you could be annoying sometimes. You still can be but... I don't know. You've grown up"

"I guess I have. At least I can stay in a room with you and not stare at you all the time", he sighed, "I mean I was pretty bad. I kept getting distracted, I thought you were the most beautiful person in the galaxy."

Sabine sat up again and squinted at him. Sure, that was sweet, but 'thought'?

Ezra caught her movement from the corner of his eye and instantly realised his misstep. "W-wait, I still think you are! I didn't mean to... wait, I mean, I don't mean it like that... Well I do but..."

Sabine broke into laughter at the sight of her fumbling friend. "You really know how to dig yourself a hole."

"Hey! I'm being nice to you! I don't even get a compliment in the first place."

She sighed, "Oh Ezra, you gotta earn those."

The black-haired Jedi chuckled, "Gee, thanks. Glad to know I'm not worth those yet."

Lying on her back, Sabine sighed to herself. You know, just this once. "Fine... You're not half-bad looking yourself." Sabine told him nonchalantly.

" _Half bad_ , that's all I get? Not even 'handsome' or 'good-looking.'" Ezra was sitting up again with a grin.

For a few seconds she was quiet. A few biting remarks popped into her head but none felt right. After a while she decided to bite the bullet. It was something she'd realised herself over the last few months as he'd grown up and filled out. _He actually is attractive_. Of all the days, today proved to be the one she'd throw him a bone. It would at least pay him back for his own honest admission of how he saw her.

Sabine sat up quickly, "You're handsome, alright?" Ezra clearly hadn't expected her to actually say anything and he'd almost jumped when she'd said it. The familiar tinge of red returned in full force. "But don't let it go to your head. Kanan is too, Wedge is alright, I'm sure Zeb was a looker on his homeworld too", she added, hoping to inject some humour in and prevent it becoming too serious.

The Jedi was still speechless but a cocky smile slowly emerged, "I'm still the most though, right?"

She would have shut him down there and then but something small nagged at the back of her mind. _Friends don't lie._ Instead, she lay back down, content to let him have this one. _He's your closest friend, what does it matter if he is?_ She smiled up to the sky without looking back at him. She wouldn't stroke his ego and tell him he was but letting this slide uncorrected wasn't something she minded.

"Whatever you say, Ezra", she muttered contently.

"I'm not hearing a denial", her pleased if flustered friend was grinning delightedly at her.

Ignoring his comments, Sabine casually moved on. "So how's Jedi training going? Anything interesting or just the boring usual?"

For a second she worried that he wouldn't drop it, that she'd be forced to put him down once more. To her surprise, he let out a sigh and leaned back.

"It's going good actually."

Sabine knew he could talk her ears off about Jedi training as much as she could to him about art. Not that she minded, that was the reason she asked. Right now, all she wanted to do was lose the night to conversation with her closest friend. After night had fallen and they eventually decided to return to base, a handful of words stayed tucked away and just about unsaid at the back of her mind: _Happy Heart's Day, Ezra Bridger._

* * *

 **With this third chapter out, I have published all of the completed chapters that I've been sitting on for a while. As for the remaining chapters there'll be a wait or around a month at least. It's not that I don't want to write them I just simply don't have the time to. Rest assured, I'll get around to writing them and have them conceptualised already but there'll just be a bit of a wait.**

Kind regards - Lothcat1138


	4. Knowing

**Oh boy. I'm not sure I got sidetracked as much as I hopped on a ship and went to an entirely different planet to where the track was in the first place. Into The Unknown really took over everything and then I just kinda forgot about this. Valentine's Day is here though so I may as well finish this. The original idea for this chapter ended up morphing into the 'Prompt: Shadows to the walls of the cave' story I did a few months ago, but this is still something separate so here ya go.**

 **This is set during Season 4's mid-season break a few hours after Hera's capture in Rebel Assault. With no official answer on the spacing between each episode and season, I'm just assuming that it has been about a year since the events of the last chapter. It's probably not accurate but it's the best I can work with. This is a bit short too, but better short and sweet than long and rambling (my usual author's notes not withstanding).  
**

* * *

Volunteering for a night time watch was a first for Ezra, but tonight was anything but normal. Hera was gone, captured by the Empire, and her attack had failed. The hopes of saving Lothal had been shattered, perhaps beyond repair, just when it seemed like things were taking a turn in their favour.

After the chaos of the Rebel assault, the eerie night time silence felt even worse. The absence of tweets and chirps from wildlife or the slight smell of smoke and fire that hung about the whole planet were constant reminders of the devastation being wrought on the world, and their inability to put a stop to it. Even the wind didn't rustle through the grass and rocks like it used to when Ezra was younger. The whole planet was silent, as if holding it breath waiting to see how these next few days would unfold. It felt wrong.

Ezra wasn't surprised when, in the small hours of the morning, that silence was broken by gentle steps trudging up the rocky path behind him. Sabine's presence in the force was darker, heavier than it usually was. The radiance and spirit he associated with her was shrouded by a veil of fear, pain, and anger. They didn't belong on her, none of it did.

"Can't sleep?", he asked softly, without moving or turning from his position.

Sabine sat down against the rock beside him. "Not really", she sighed.

His eyes were still shut tight. It was perhaps counter intuitive that closing his eyes would be a good idea when on watch but the force was a far better tool than anyone's eyes could be.

"You're unsettled." Ezra's talents for reading her thoughts were now near perfect.

"And you're not?", she bit, irritated. Ezra opened his eyes, his focus broken. Sabine sighed angrily and pulled her legs up to her chest, "Sorry I didn't mean to snap."

"No, it's okay. I'm worried too", Ezra folded his legs out of his kneeling position and sat down next to her, resting his arms on his knees.

Neither knew where to start.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Sabine knew he wouldn't have the answer.

Ezra shifted uncomfortably, their arms close enough to brush against each other. "I think we need to get her as soon as we can."

It was the most diplomatic answer he could have given her.

Silence passed. Sabine shuffled her feet restlessly. He knew she hated to be sitting here doing nothing. Sabine probably half-considered marching into Capital City herself and pulling Hera out and cutting through every imperial that tried to stop them. Ezra could hardly blame her. Hera had been the tender and loving mother that Sabine had never had, just as Hera had filled the void of the mother he'd lost. Hera was the irreplaceable centre of their entire family. None more so than for Kanan, of course.

Beside him, Sabine sighed. "I can't tell how Kanan's holding up through all this." Her thoughts hadn't been far from his own.

Years of bonding, trust, and training had forged a close link between master and student. Ezra couldn't miss the heartbreak he'd felt earlier. It was raw and human. It might not have been what a Jedi should feel, but it was everything Ezra knew Kanan would feel. Kanan loved Hera, more than he could put into words, just like she loved him. That love was their best chance at saving her.

"He's just focused on getting her back now." Ezra looked out to the murky horizon, the hazy moonlight barely cutting through the industrial fog clogging the sky. "Thinks look bleak but Kanan won't give up on her, and neither will we. That'll keep us going, I know it will."

The Mandalorian let her legs down and exhaled deeply. "I just can't imagine what it'd be like", she was almost whispering, her eyes fixated on the ground by her feet. "To have someone you love taken from you right in front of your eyes with no idea if or when you might get them back."

Something stirred in the back of Ezra's mind. A subtle pull, gentle and barely perceptible, that twisted a knot in his stomach. It would be horrible. Ezra wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy, let alone on the people he loved the most.

Ezra felt new emotions rising. Anger? Fear? Shame? Why? There was something gnawing at his spirit as Sabine's words echoed around his mind. Or maybe he could explain it and he just didn't want to. Maybe he knew why the fear of the people you love slipping out of your grasp resonated so strongly these last few days. Maybe he did know why seeing her so utterly broken by the mere thought of it made his heart sink with absolute and uncontrollable guilt.

It was bad enough that the choice wasn't his anymore. If that was how things were going to play out, then it was up to the force now. But the worst part of all was that he couldn't tell her. Even though what he saw was still so unclear, he knew enough to be sure she couldn't find out. Not yet.

Whatever happened though, whatever darkness was lurking on the horizon, he still had one thing that kept a flicker of hope burning defiantly: he'd be able to count on her. He trusted her with his life. Whatever came, she'd have his back until the end.

Even if he couldn't warn her of what was to come, he could at least acknowledge that.

"I guess we just have to hope it never comes to that." It felt almost like lying to her, but he could never let her see. "We just have to keep the ones we love close while we have them, and never let them forget what they mean to us. I know Kanan and Hera would say the same."

She sighed, "Yeah, I know they would."

Ezra's head fell onto his arms. Hera and Kanan meant so much to both of them. To see them torn apart like this was cruel beyond words. It may have only been a few days since they made an obvious show of their love, but it had been there for years. The endearments, the hugs in hallways when they thought no one was around, or just the instinctive ways they put each other above anything else, all of it was as much a sign of love as saying the words were. Kanan and Hera had been saying they loved each other indirectly for as long as he'd known them, and that was no less important that doing it explicitly.

"Ezra?", Sabine said suddenly.

He lifted his head. "Hmm?"

Their eyes met. "Happy Heart's Day."

He'd forgotten. He'd completely forgotten. Ezra'd been so lost in war and rebellion that he'd forgotten all about that goofy local holiday. For the last three years he'd been the one prompting her, annoying her, joking with her about the whole thing, yet now it was her that knew. Sabine remembered now, after everything that had happened, after everything they'd just talked about, she remembered. Not only that, she made sure to tell him.

A smile, the first real one for so long, forced its way through. He held her gaze, no fear or uncertainty compelling him to look away. "Happy Heart's Day, Sabine."

Ezra knew what she'd meant when she said it. The timing, the context - even he, oblivious as he could be, knew what Sabine was trying to say. Sabine was better than she had been with emotions, but everyone knew the saying about taking Mandalorians away from Mandalore. Learning to read his best friend and the things she kept just below the surface was one of the things he'd come to treasure most. That was assuming 'best friend' even covered it anymore, which he knew it didn't.

Ezra loved her, of course. He wasn't some starstruck child too scared or too stupid to realise that. It had been a gradual development, formed as much out of friendship as of romantic attachment. It was a pure and absolute thing that underlined everything they'd built with each other. The friendship, the trust, the cohesion, the humour, the dependence - all facets of that single immovable truth.

Neither of them had looked away from each other. She could read him as well as he could read her. There was no doubt that she knew exactly what was going through his head, just as he did in hers.

For the briefest moment he considered going for it. His eyes broke contact and danced to her lips, their faces only inches apart from each other. A piece of him screamed to put an end to years of pining and months of building tension and finally make things clear.

Ezra was glad he didn't.

The moment passed and they both broke the gaze. Now wasn't the time. With everything that was happening they couldn't do that to each other. With everything that was about to come to pass, he certainly couldn't bear to do that to her. Perhaps there'd be another chance in some distant future when the war didn't loom over everything and when they could have the time and peace they both deserved. But that time wasn't now.

Instead, they went back to watching the plains as morning slowly marched towards them. Ezra was taking his own advice: treasuring the person he loved while he had the chance.

Force knew it might be a long time before he'd have that chance again.

* * *

 **Yes, I did spend part of my Valentine's day night writing a fluff fic for two cartoon characters. You can draw your own conclusions about my own love life from there, really.**

 **I'll mark this story as complete for now. I did originally plan two more chapters but I don't really have time for fanfic anymore. I've started working on my own original stuff, so one day in the future I'll probably post a little something here as an excuse to plug that. Until then, enjoy TCW S7, and fingers crossed for that Rebels sequel announcement. Any day now, right?**


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